IntroductionA business trip
arranged at short notice to Trondeim gave me this
opportunity for a follow-up to my earlier brief
experiences of northern birding in Sweden in 2002. For a
trip report on that visit click here.

Having
previously headed east from Trondheim into Sweden, this
time I thought I would head south to the Dovrefjell and
Rondane mountain areas of central Norway. This was
prompted by two interesting sounding sites - the famous
Fokstumyra reserve near Dombas, and also the report by
Phil Benstead from Birding World a few years back. In a
short note, he described the road to Doralseter in the
nearby Rondane National Park - and mentioned Siberian
Tit and Siberian Jay, both of
which would be lifers for me. To see if I found them -
read on!

General
notesThis was a
hastily arranged visit, but I was able to use the
Internet to find reasonably priced accommodation for the
two nights of my birding trip without too much problem. I
found searching for "tourist information" more
effective at finding low-cost places than use of "hotel"
or "accommodation" - both of which give the
glossy commercial websites who specialise in very
expensive hotels.

Avis
provided a 2-day rental of a hire car, which I picked up
in the centre of Trondheim on Friday afternoon after my
business commitment and returned on Sunday evening to the
airport. Cost for two days and 3 hours (extra hours not
charged) was a not unreasonable c. GBP120, including
additional CDW insurance. The Dovrefjell region is some 3
hrs by road from Trondheim airport - beware heavy traffic
heading south from Trondheim along the E6 on a Friday
afternoon.

The weather
was remarkably good - no rain at all and even warm sun at
times. And of course at this time of year, very light
indeed all night. Biting insects were remarkable by their
absence - unlike the Swedish trip two years ago.

Despite the
relatively late date, there was a reasonable amount of
bird song, although many species had young.

Sites

Road
to DoralseterThis is a dirt track which goes some 12 km from
route 27 up into the Rondane national park, through a
range of habitats from undisturbed pine forest, through
birch to dwarf birch and then bare tundra. Lichen covers
the ground almost throughout. The start of this track is
some 12 km south of Folldal, and the turn is clearly
marked. There is a barrier shorly after the turn off
which was unmanned when I was there - a fee of NOK30 is
expected to proceed - well worth it! After about 3 km
from the main road, there is a metal yellow & green
painted gate which was open. Just before this, by the
warnings signs, there is a little turn off to the left -
a good place to leave the car. This gate is the location
recommended by Phil Benstead.

Arriving at
around 10:00, I spent the next hour and a half searching
the forest for my target species of Siberian Tit and Jay,
in surprisingly warm, still conditions. No joy, but there
was some compensation in the form of a Golden
Eagle seen over the rounded hill above the road.
The other side of the road (south side - sloping down
from the road) seemed better for small birds, and there
were Pied Flycatcher,Redstart,
Siskin and Lesser Whitethroat.
Also at least one pair of tits, but these were very grey
and definitely the northern race of Willow Tit,
not Siberian, which made me wonder... At this point in
the forest, pine was just begining to give way to birch,
but I was concentrating on the pine area.

I then
decided on a change of scene and drove on further up the
road. It soon emerged out of the forest and passed a lake
on the right. At a second lake on the right, I stopped
again for a quick scan, and was delighted to see a number
of Red-necked Phalaropes, "spinning"
close in to the near shore. Very tame, and allowed close
approach with 'scope and camera. There were at least 6
including some juv. On the far shore there were a further
4 or so.

Red-necked Phalarope from the
Doralseter Road

Also by this lake were a
number of Grey-headed Wagtails and
northern Redpoll (flammea).
Just a bit further on, I came across a family of Willow
Grouse crossing the road.

At the end of the road
were some buildings and a mountain hut, in a very scenic
location indeed - mountains all around. On the return, I
had another family of Willow Grouse
crossing the road, this time quite close to the road end.

I then returned to the
yellow & green gate for another attack on my target
species. An initial wander down below the road, and then
back up and along produced only another Willow
Tit, in very warm conditions. But on my return
to the car (parked at the end of the side-turn - about
100m from the main track), I was amazed to latch onto a
group of Siberian Jays!! Wow! Success at
last! Had amazing views - they were very tame, but I didn't
manage to get any proper photos. It was now around 16:00
and bird activity was clearly begining to pick up again.
There was also a Crossbill in the area,
and another Willow Tit appeared. The
Jays then moved off through the pine forest and I
attempted to follow with scope & camera. It was a
frustrating and fruitless chase, but I then heard yet
more tit calls, and decided to leave the scope and follow
this up. Very soon I came across a definite pair of brown-headed
Siberian Tits - quite different from the
Willow Tits and moving quite rapidly from tree to tree.
So both target species in the space of about half an hour.
Excellent!

Fokstumyra
reserveThis wetland reserve is beside the main E6, a
few km north of Dombas and made a good contrast to the
forest/tundra habitat of the Doralseter Road (above). The
parking area is close to the main road, so there is a bit
of a walk even to reach the start of the main 7km long
trail through the reserve. There was no need for a permit,
and no sign of a wardens house.

I first called in
briefly in the early evening after the Doralseter road (see
above), and managed distant views of a Crane
(location no. 1 on the map below) - 'scoped from a
slightly raised area by the farm's cow shed to the right
of the gate for the approach road/track.

Having spent the night
in Dombas, I was at the reserve reasonably early the next
morning for a longer visit, and had the place to myself
for the duration of my 3 hr stay. The main trail is some
7 km long from the entrance at the railway station - at
least 8 km from the parking area by the main road. I
didnt have time to walk all this, and only went as far as
point 2 on the map. Even before crossing the railway, I
was delighted to find a few Bluethroat -
many more were easily visible when on the reserve side of
the railway (a few singing occasionally) - around no. 3
on the map. I counted at least 10 before stopping! Also
where the path went under the railway, I heard Snipe
drumming.

Map of Fokstumyra reserve -
click to get larger version

Bluethroat singing, despite
late date

Further on, the
observation tower provides general views over the reserve,
but was not particularly well situated - all the lakes
were distant, and there was nothing much in the
foreground either. Nevertheless, there were better views
of another Crane - around location 2 on
the map. I then approached this bird along the boardwalk,
trying to get reasonable photos, but the results were
spoilt by shimmer.

There were however some Azure
Hawker (not Common Hawker!)dragonflies
around (thanks to Richard Lewington for discussions which
finally led to confirmation of this identification in
December 2006, more than 2 years after the pics were
taken!):

Azure Hawker
Dragonfly (female)

It was then time to
leave. Not a great variety of species here; no sign of
Lapland Bunting for example, which should have been
present. Maybe this site is better earlier in the season.

A
friendly boarding house type of accommodation
with good home cooked food, communal meals etc.
Crowded with Norwegian walkers & a few others.
Private bedroom with WC and shower. Reasonably
priced room & food. Recommended if you don't
think TV is essential. Convenient for the
Doralseter road. Peaceful rural surroundings

Very
different from above, but only a bit more
expensive. Modest priced hotel in ski resort
above town of Dombas. Good views, reasonable food.
Few other guests, but beware loud plumbing noises
at night!